Days 1 & 2: The Drive and Fontana

For Christmas this year we went from this (ice, freezing rain, snowstorms, fog, etc.)...

...to this. Though it wasn't exactly sunshine and rainbows while we were there. We had our fair share of clouds, wind and rain - but no snow.

So we started our grand adventure down to Southern California late Friday night on the 19th. And by late, I mean really late. We're talking we left at about midnight, so I'm counting Saturday as day 1. I had to work all day Friday, so by the time I got home to pack and finish getting Ethan's stuff together and then make sure we had all the other random stuff - presents, wrapping paper, boxes and bows (I hadn't had any time to wrap since I'd been so sick), etc. it was pretty late. Then we still had to stop by my parents' and then the grocery store. By the time we had some snacks for the road, and a new portable DVD player (a saving grace according to other parents with toddlers - SO true!) it was close to midnight but we were determined to be on our way!!

14 1/2 hours later... we rolled into Simi Valley, CA where we were staying with Sean's family for the week. Along the way, we actually had to stop at the border patrol station. We've made this trip at least 6 other times and it's never been open. Of course, we may have actually had some [[ahem]] fruit [[cough, cough]] to declare. But I can neither confirm, nor deny it at this time.

Moving right along...

Saturday afternoon and evening was spent chatting and hanging out with Sean's family, followed by showers and a bath for Ethan. We all felt pretty grungy after being in the car all day. We decided to put Ethan to bed a little early (for him), but since we were in a new place and he was sharing a room with Sean and I, I decided to lay down with him. We were both out cold by about 7:45pm. The earliest I've been to bed in years. It was heaven.

The next morning we got up bright and early and headed to Fontana where Sean's brother, Todd and his wife LynMarie (aka Muffy) were blessing their baby boy - Spencer Aaron. The adoption for their little guy went through sooner than expected, so we were very excited to have them hold off on Spencer's blessing and sealing until we were down for the holidays. After church (where the Nursery was made up entirely of visitors related to Spencer), we headed over to Todd and Muffy's for a yummy lunch, board games and naps! Ethan got to nap in Spencer's crib (thank you!!) and slept for about 3 hours. After naptime, Ethan, Spencer, Papa (Sean's dad) and Todd played with the train set that was around the tree. Ethan loved the "choo choo" and was quite fascinated by it!

See the big grin on his face?

The other fun past-time that day was climbing up and down the stairs. Over and over and over... you get the idea!

Todd keeping a watchful eye on the little ones as they climb the stairs.

Finally it was back to Simi for a late dinner and bedtime!